Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation
GA Blekas, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Food additives are natural, semisynthetic, or synthetic sub-
stances or products of biotechnology, present in edible prod-
ucts at levels varying usually between a few mg kg
1 and 1% by
weight. They are used either directly or indirectly during pro-
cessing, treatment, packaging, transport, or storage of a food
for one or more technological purposes, such as prolonging
shelf life, sweetening, modifying or stabilizing consistency,
enhancing taste, and enhancing or preserving color.
Directly used food additives are substances intentionally
added to foodstuffs in controlled levels. The main purposes of
their use are food preservation and food appeal, convenience,
or processing improvement. Indirectly used food additives are
substances that become part of an edible product, usually at
very low levels, as a result of processing or packaging.
Classification of Food Additives
Food additives are classified in many functional classes. The
Codex Alimentarius Standard CAC/GL 36-1989 includes in
section 2 a table with the following additive functional classes:
• Acidity regulators, as additives that control the acidity or
alkalinity of a food
• Anticaking agents, as additives that reduce the tendency of
food components to adhere to one another
• Antifoaming agents, as additives that prevent or reduce
foaming
• Antioxidants, as additives that prolong the shelf life of
foods by protecting against deterioration caused by
oxidation
• Bleaching agents, as additives used to decolorize food
(except flour)
• Bulking agents, as additives that contribute to the bulk of a
food without having a significant contribution to its avail-
able energy value
• Carbonating agents, as additives used to provide carbon-
ation in a food
• Carriers, as additives that dissolve, dilute, disperse, or oth-
erwise physically modify a food additive or nutrient without
altering its function (and without exerting any technological
effect themselves) in order to facilitate its handling,
application, or use of the food additive or nutrient
• Colors, as additives that add or restore color in a food
• Color retention agents, as additives that stabilize, retain, or
intensify the color of a food
• Emulsifiers, as additives that form or maintain a uniform
emulsion of two or more phases in a food
• Emulsifying salts, as additives that rearrange proteins in
order to prevent fat separation during the manufacture of
processed food
• Firming agents, as additives that make or keep tissues of
fruits or vegetables firm and crisp or interact with gelling
agents to produce or strengthen a gel
Encyclopedia of Food and Health http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384947-2.00304-4
• Flour treatment agents, as additives added to flour or dough
to improve its baking quality or color
• Flavor enhancers, as additives that enhance the existing
taste and/or odor of a food
• Foaming agents, as additives that make it possible to form
or maintain a uniform dispersion of a gaseous phase in a
liquid or solid food
• Gelling agents, as additives that give a food texture through
the formation of a gel
• Glazing agents, as additives that, when applied to the exter-
nal surface of a food, impart a shiny appearance or provide
a protective coating
• Humectants, as additives that prevent foods from drying
out by counteracting the effect of a dry atmosphere
• Packaging gases, as additives that are introduced into a
container before, during, or after its filling with a food
with the intention of protecting the food, for example,
from oxidation or spoilage
• Preservatives, as additives that prolong the shelf life of
foods by protecting against deterioration caused by
microorganisms
• Propellants, as additives that expel a food from a container
• Raising agents, as additives or combination of additives that
liberate gas and thereby increase the volume of a dough or
batter
• Sequestrants, as additives that control the availability of a
cation
• Stabilizers, as additives that make it possible to maintain a
uniform dispersion of two or more components
• Sweeteners, as additives other than sugars (mono- or disac-
charides) that impart a sweet taste to a food
• Thickeners, as additives that increase the viscosity of a food
Food additives are classified into both direct or secondary
direct food additives and indirect food additives according
the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Direct food addi-
tives are divided into eight categories. Flavorings and nutrients
are two of these categories. Secondary direct food additives are
divided into four categories. In two of these categories,
enzymes and solvents are included. Food colors are classified
in certified colors and colors exempt from certification.
Regulation of Food Additives
Food additive use is regulated by international or national
authorities taking into account that they are safe and techno-
logically indispensable. Each approved food additive has been
assessed for its toxicity with the aim to determine the ‘no
observed adverse effect level’ and the ‘acceptable daily intake’
(ADI). The latter is taken into account by establishing its
maximum use levels in various food groups. An additive to
which has been allocated an ADI ‘not specified’ may be used in
foodstuffs with ‘no limitations other than current good
731
732 Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation
manufacturing practice.’ Identity and purity criteria for each
permitted food additive, maximum use level at the different
commodities in which it may be used, and food categories or
individual food items in which the use of each permitted food
additive is not acceptable or where use should be restricted
have been allocated in the Codex General Standard for Food
Additives (GSFA, Codex STAN 192-1995). This standard has
been used as a starting point for developing the European
Union system that regulates food additive use.
Food additive use in European countries is harmonized by
Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of 16 December 2008. This
regulation, which replaces previous directives and decisions
concerning food additives permitted for use in foods, harmo-
nizes also the use of food additives in food additives, food
enzymes, food flavorings, and nutrients. The following are not
considered to be food additives:
• Substances used for the purpose of imparting flavor and/or
taste or for nutritional purposes
• Substances not consumed as food itself but used intention-
ally in the processing of foods, which remain as residues in
the final food and do not have a technological effect in the
final product (processing aids)
• Food enzymes
• A number of food ingredients, such as ammonium chlo-
ride, chewing gum bases, caseinates, casein, edible gelatin,
gluten, inulin, and protein hydrolysates and their salts
• Products containing pectin that are derived from dried
apple pomace or peel of citrus fruits or quinces
• Physically modified starch, starch modified by acid or alkali
treatment, starch modified by bleaching and dextrinated or
roasted starch, starch treated by amylolytic enzymes, sugars
used for their sweetening properties, and white or yellow
dextrin
Commission Regulation (EU) No 1129/2011 amends Annex II
to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 by establishing a union list
of food additives approved for use in foods and conditions of
their use. Part B of this list includes colors (40 substances),
sweeteners (16 substances), and additives other than colors
and sweeteners (266 substances). Union list of food additives,
whose use is permitted in food additives, food enzymes, food
flavorings, and nutrients, is replaced in Annex III to Regulation
No 1333/2008 by the text of Annex to Commission Regulation
(EU) No 1130/2011. Specifications for all food additives listed
in Annexes II and III to Regulation No 1333/2008 are laid down
in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012.
The use of food colors and other food additives in the
United States is regulated by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion (FDA). Food additives are divided into generally recog-
nized as safe (GRAS) substances, prior-sanctioned substances,
and regulated direct or indirect additives. The FDA is involved
to ensure that GRAS substances and prior-sanctioned sub-
stances, which were in use in foods prior to the Food Additives
Amendment in 1958 to the 1938 Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics
Act, are tested by applying the most modern toxicological
methods. Title 21 of the CFR includes a number of parts con-
cerning food additives. Parts 170 and 171 provide general
information on food additive regulation. Food additives per-
mitted for direct addition to food for human consumption and
secondary direct food additives permitted in food for human
consumption are listed in parts 172 and 173, respectively.
Indirect food additive regulations are presented from parts
174 to 178. Parts 181 and 182 refer to prior-sanctioned food
ingredients and GRAS substance use. Parts 70 and 71 present
general information on color additive regulation. Colors
exempt from certification and colors subject to certification
are listed in parts 72 and 73, respectively.
Approved Food Additives and Their Use
The following description of direct food additives used in
foods is based on their functional classification.
Acidity Regulators
These additives, mainly acids or their salts, hydroxides, and
oxides, are used as acidifiers, buffering agents, or pH adjusting
agents that affect rheological properties, taste, and texture of
foods, enhance the ability of food to form gel or to absorb
water for swelling, or contribute to food shelf life extension.
They are mainly used in bakery products, chewing gum, choc-
olate and cocoa products, confections, dairy products, fruit and
vegetable products, nonalcoholic beverages, and wine, usually
at levels in accordance with GMP. Citric acid and phosphoric
acid are the most commonly used acidifiers.
Anticaking Agents
These substances, mainly inorganic calcium and magnesium
salts (carbonates, ferrocyanides, phosphates, and silicates),
fatty acid calcium and magnesium salts, oxides (magnesium
oxide and silicon dioxide), cellulose, and soybean hemicellu-
lose, are added in foodstuffs containing hygroscopic ingredi-
ents to inhibit the formation of aggregates or lumps. They are
added, at a level of 1% or less, in
• dried powdered foods,
• foods in tablet and coated tablet form,
• food supplements such as in capsules or tablets,
• rice,
• salt and salt substitutes,
• sliced or grated hard, semihard, or semisoft ripened and
unripened cheese products,
• processed cheese products,
• sugar confections,
• spreadable fats,
• tabletop sweeteners in powdered form or in tablets, and
• whey cheese products.
Antifoaming Agents
Dimethylpolysiloxane, which is the most commonly used anti-
foaming agent, is mainly added in foods, such as alcoholic and
nonalcoholic beverages, batters, broths, canned or bottled
fruits, confections, dairy spreads, fat spreads, food supple-
ments, frying fats, jams, jellies, marmalades, and soups, at a
level of 10 mg kg
1. Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids,
microcrystalline wax, and calcium alginate are other substances
used as antifoaming agents.

Antioxidants
These additives protect foods against oxidative deterioration
caused by color and aroma defects. They are oil- or water-
soluble substances used also to avoid an earlier oxidative
deterioration in fatty foods because naturally occurring antiox-
idants may be often destroyed during processing. Antioxidants
may be divided into chain-breaking antioxidants, preventive
antioxidants, reducing agents, and oxygen scavengers. Chain-
breaking antioxidants are natural or synthetic phenolic sub-
stances used for the inhibition or retardation of lipid oxidation
caused by free radical reactions. Metal chelating agents (seques-
trants), as the most important preventive antioxidants, are
used often in combination with chain-breaking antioxidants
for retardation of lipid hydroperoxide decomposition cata-
lyzed by polyvalent metal ions and also for the inhibition
of ascorbic acid oxidation. Reducing agents are used to trans-
form lipid hydroperoxides in inactive products by nonradical
reactions, to inhibit color changes in foods, or to regenerate
chain-breaking antioxidants. Oxygen scavengers are, at least,
substances used for removing oxygen from food packaging
(e.g., glucose oxidase).
Butylated hydroxyanisole (ΒΗΑ), butylated hydroxytoluene
(ΒΗΤ), extracts of rosemary, gallic acid esters, tert-butylhydro-
quinone (TBHQ), and tocopherols are the most important
chain-breaking antioxidants used in foods. Tocopherols are
used in oils, fats, and foods for infants and young children.
Extracts of rosemary are added in animal fats, fish oils, fats
and oils used in the manufacture of nonheat-treated and
heat-treated foods, and vegetable fats and oils containing poly-
unsaturated fatty acids more than 15% (w/w) of the total fatty
acids. They are also used in dehydrated potato products; fine
bakery wares; mustard; nonheat-treated and heat-treated
meat products; nut butters; nut spreads; potato-, cereal-,
flour-, or starch-based snacks; processed eggs and egg products;
processed nuts; seasonings and condiments; sauces; and soups
and broths. Gallic acid esters, TBHQ, BHA, and BHT are added
in animal fats, fish oils, fats and oils used in the manufacture of
heat-treated foods, and frying fats. They are also used in cereal-
based snack foods, chewing gum, dehydrated broths, dehy-
drated meat, dehydrated potatoes, dehydrated soups, processed
nuts, sauces, and seasonings and condiments. The addition
level of chain-breaking antioxidants other than tocopherols
varies between 10 and 400 mg kg
1. Tocopherols are added at
levels in accordance to GMP.
Ascorbic acid, which is the most important water-soluble
antioxidant, acts as a metal chelating agent, as an oxygen
scavenger, or as a reducing agent. It is utilized for protecting
flavor constituents against oxidation in fruit and vegetable
juices or nectars and beer, due to its oxygen scavenging activity,
and also for improving flour or dough baking quality. Ascorbic
acid and its salts are also used in dehydrated milk; foods for
young children; fresh and heat-treated processed meat, unpro-
cessed fish, crustaceans, and mollusks; and unprocessed and
processed fruit and vegetables. Fatty acid esters of ascorbic acid
are mainly used in fats and oils, for improving their oxidative
stability, dehydrated milk, and foods for young children and
infants. Isoascorbic (erythorbic) acid and its sodium salt are
used in heat- and nonheat-treated cured meat products to
reduce the amount of added nitrous acid salts. These additives
Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation 733
stabilize also color in deep-frozen and frozen fish with red
skin, preserved meat products, and preserved or semipreserved
fish products.
Colors
Colors used to enhance the appearance of foods are synthetic,
semisynthetic, or natural water-soluble or water-insoluble sub-
stances. Approved color additives are
• mainly synthetic water-soluble azo and triphenylmethane
dyes,
• natural water-soluble (anthocyanins, betanin, and carminic
acid) or water-insoluble (beta-carotene, trans-b-apo-80 -car-
otenal, bixin, capsanthin, chlorophylls, chlorophyllins,
copper complexes of chlorophylls/chlorophyllins, curcu-
min, lutein, lycopene, and riboflavins) colors,
• water-insoluble colors that are products of biotechnology
(beta-carotene and lycopene),
• caramel,
• metals (aluminum, gold, and silver),
• minerals (calcium carbonate, iron hydroxides, iron oxides,
and titan dioxide), and
• vegetable carbon.
Metals are used in confection external coatings. Most natural
colors, caramel, minerals, and vegetable carbon are used at
levels in accordance with GMP. Bixin and lycopene are used
at levels varying between 10 and 50 mg kg
1. Synthetic colors,
curcumin, lutein, and trans-b-apo-80 -carotenal, are used at
levels of 50–500 mg kg
1. The use of food colorants is permit-
ted in a great number of foodstuffs, mainly in alcoholic bever-
ages, chewing gum, confections, edible ices, fine bakery wares,
jams, jellies, marmalades, mustard, processed meat, processed
fish and fishery products, sauces, and seasonings.
Emulsifiers and Emulsifying Salts
These additives, which are used as plasticizers, dispersing
agents, suspending agents, clouding agents, density-adjusting
agents, crystallization inhibitors, or melding salts, are natural or
synthetic surface-active agents widely used to stabilize w/o and
o/w food emulsions in margarine, mayonnaise, or ice cream; to
prevent fat separation in sausages; to inhibit ‘fat blooming’ in
chocolate or starch retrogradation in bread; to improve baked
product volume, crumb structure of bread, and rheological
properties of chocolate; to dissolve instant powders and spice
extracts; and to achieve a characteristic consistency in ice cream.
The relative strength of hydrophilic and lipophilic groups pre-
sent in the molecule of a surface-active agent (HBL value) is
related to its main industrial application. Surface-active agents
suitable for stabilization of w/o and o/w emulsions have an
HLB value varying between 3 and 6 and between 8 and 18,
respectively, while surface-active agents having an HLB value
varying between 7 and 9 are mainly utilized as food
humectants.
The most commonly used food emulsifiers are lecithin;
mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids and their esters with
acetic, citric, lactic, and mono- and diacetyl tartaric or tartaric
734 Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation
acids; polyglycerol fatty acid esters; polyoxyethylene sorbitan
fatty acid esters (polysorbates); propylene glycol fatty acid
esters; sorbitan fatty acid esters (Span’s); stearoyl-2-lactylate
salts; and sugar esters. Ammonium phosphatide, fatty acid
salts, glycerol esters of wood resin, quillaia extract, and ther-
mally oxidized soybean oil interacted with mono- and diglyc-
erides of fatty acids are other approved emulsifiers. Additives
with emulsifying properties, which are mainly utilized as food
humectants, stabilizers, thickeners, and/or sweeteners, are
modified starches; lactic acid salts; ortho-, di-, tri-, or polyphos-
phoric acid salts; propylene glycol; polysaccharides; sugar
alcohols; triacetin; and triethyl citrate. The use of emulsifiers is
permitted in a great number of foodstuffs, including foods for
infants, babies, and young children. These additives are utilized
in bread, cheese, chewing gum, chocolate and cocoa products,
confections, edible ices, fat or oil emulsions, fine bakery wares,
flavored fermented milk products, flavored nonalcoholic bev-
erages, heat-treated processed meat products, liqueurs, other
alcoholic beverages, processed cheese, sauces, and soups. Leci-
thin, modified starches, mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids,
and esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids are added in
foods, excluding food for infants and young children, at levels
in accordance with GMP. The rest of the emulsifiers are added at
levels varying between 100 and 10 000 mg kg
1 or mg l
1.
Firming Agents
Calcium and aluminum salts of inorganic acids are the main
firming agents. Calcium chloride is the most commonly used,
mainly in canned and bottled fruit and vegetables, fruit com-
potes, jams, jellies, marmalades, and similar spreads. Its use, at
levels in accordance with GMP, aims to prevent the collapse of
fruit tissues by forming a calcium pectate gel around them and,
therefore, to protect them against softening during processing.
Aluminum sulfate, aluminum sodium sulfate, and aluminum
ammonium sulfate are used in the manufacture of candied,
crystallized, or glace fruits, at levels of 200 mg kg
1, for coating
fruits with an aluminum pectate film before they are candied in
saccharose or glucose syrups.
Glazing Agents
The most important substances used as glazing agents are
natural or synthetic waxes, such as beeswax, candelilla wax,
carnauba wax, hydrogenated poly-1-decene, microcrystalline
wax, montan acid esters, oxidized polyethylene wax, and shel-
lac. All these additives are used for surface treatments of some
entire fresh fruits. Beeswax, candelilla wax, carnauba wax, and
shellac are also used in chewing gum; chocolate products;
coffee; confections; potato-, cereal-, flour-, or starch-based
snacks; fine bakery wares coated with chocolate; and processed
nuts. Microcrystalline wax and hydrogenated poly-1-decene
are used in chewing gum and confections. Glazing agents,
with the exception of carnauba wax and hydrogenated poly-
1-decene, are used in food at levels in accordance with GMP
(about 4000 mg kg
1). Carnauba wax is used at levels varying
between 200 and 1200 mg kg
1. The maximum use level for
hydrogenated poly-1-decene is 2000 mg kg
1.
Humectants
These additives are hygroscopic substances that control water
activity because its reduction preserves texture and enhances
food stability against deterioration caused by microorganisms.
They are used in a great number of intermediate moisture foods,
which have a water activity ranging from 0.6 to 0.9, such as cereal
products; cheese; chewing gum; confections; dietary foods;
dried fruits; fermented milk products; food supplements; jams;
jellies; marmalades; meat products; potato-, cereal-, or flour-
based snacks; processed eggs and egg products; processed fishery
products; processed nuts; salads; sandwich spreads; sauces;
soups and broths; and seasonings and condiments, at levels in
accordance with GMP. The most commonly used humectants
are sugar alcohols, which are multifunctional substances. Other
multifunctional substances used as humectants are glycerol;
glycerol triacetate; polydextrose; propylene glycol; salts of
ortho-, di-, tri-, and polyphosphoric acids; and polysaccharides
used as stabilizers and thickeners, such as alginic acid and its
salts, agar, and carrageenan.
Preservatives
These substances inhibit metabolic pathways responsible for
microorganism survival by the attack of microbial cell mem-
branes or by reaction with functional groups of microbial
enzymes. They are mostly used to protect fresh prepared food-
stuffs with a low microbial load against deterioration, because
the reduction rate of microorganism population depends
on their levels. Their use depends also on microorganism
species present in a food, food pH value, and food storage
temperature. Preservatives suitable for use in foods are organic
acids, such as acetic, benzoic, propionic, and sorbic acids, and
their salts, p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters and their sodium salts,
and inorganic acids and/or their anhydrides or salts, such as
borax, boric acid, carbon dioxide, nitric acid salts, nitrous
acid salts, sulfur dioxide and sulfurous acid salts, lysozyme,
natamycin, nisin, hexamethylenetetramine, and dimethyl
dicarbonate. Both inorganic and organic acids are effective
in their undissociated form. They show, therefore, their
highest antimicrobial activity at low pH values and they are
preferably used in acid foods. The maximum use level of pre-
servatives other than acetic acid and its salts and carbon dioxide
varies between 3 and 4000 mg kg
1. Acetic acid, acetic acid
salts, and carbon dioxide are used at levels in accordance
with GMP.
Sorbic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium salts
show antimicrobial activity mainly against molds and yeasts.
Foods that may be preserved using these additives are bakery
wares, alcoholic beverages (alcoholic drinks with less than
15% alcohol, aromatized wine-based drinks, aromatized
wine-product cocktails, cider, fruit wine, made wine, mead,
and wine), cheese, cheese products, dehydrated and concen-
trated frozen or deep-frozen egg products, emulsified sauces,
fat emulsions, flavored drinks, and processed fruit and vegeta-
ble products. Sorbic acid salts are also used for surface treat-
ment of unpeeled fresh citrus fruits, ripened cheese, and cheese
analogues.
Benzoic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium salts
show antimicrobial activity against molds, yeasts, and aerobic

bacteria. Benzoic acid salts are often used in combination with
sorbic acid salts, because they are more effective against lactic
acid bacteria, for the preservation of chewing gum; confections,
excluding chocolate and cocoa products; dietary foods; food
supplements; jams; jellies; liquid eggs; liquid fruit and herbal
infusion concentrates; liquid broths; liquid soups; liquid tea
concentrates; marmalade and similar fruit-based spreads;
mustard; olive-based preparations; olives; processed fish or
fishery products; salads and sandwich spreads; sauces; season-
ings and condiments; tabletop sweeteners in liquid form; and
vegetables in vinegar, oil, or brine.
Methyl and ethyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and their
sodium salts show antimicrobial activity against molds,
yeasts, and many bacteria. They are mainly used in combina-
tion with either sorbic acid salts or sorbic and benzoic acid
salts due to their higher effectiveness against Gram-positive
bacteria. In comparison with sorbic or benzoic acid salts, they
are effective in a wide pH area due to their lower polarity.
Foods that may be preserved using these additives in combi-
nation with sorbic and benzoic acid salts are potato-, cereal-,
flour-, or starch-based snacks; processed nuts; decoration,
coating, and fillings of confections; and jelly coatings of
meat products.
Sulfur dioxide and sulfurous acid calcium, potassium, and
sodium salts show a stronger antimicrobial activity against
bacteria than against molds and yeasts. They are often used in
combination with sorbic and/or benzoic acid salts. These addi-
tives are also used, at levels higher than that needed for food
preservation, as antioxidants, for the inhibition of food enzy-
matic and nonenzymatic browning, or as bleaching agents.
Therefore, sulfurous acid salts are added in food at levels
varying between 10 and 2000 mg SO2 per kg. Foods containing
these additives are mainly alcoholic beverages; analogues of
meat or fishery products based on protein; confections; fla-
vored drinks; lemon juice; mustard; potato-, cereal-, flour-, or
starch-based snacks; processed and unprocessed fishery
products; processed and unprocessed fruit and vegetables;
sugars; syrups; and whole or concentrated fruit juices for spe-
cial uses. The presence of these preservatives at levels higher
than 10 mg kg
1 or mg l
1 must be indicated on the label
because they cause asthma symptoms in special groups of
consumers.
Potassium and sodium salts of nitric and nitrous acids are
utilized in nonheat-treated processed meat and cured meat
products to inhibit the growth of anaerobic bacteria. They are
also effective as color retention agents. Nitrous acid salts are
also used in heat-treated processed meat products. The maxi-
mum use levels of nitrous acid salts vary between 50 and
150 mg kg
1. Nitric acid salts are added in meat products, at
levels varying between 10 and 300 mg kg
1; in milk used for
manufacturing ripened cheese and ripened cheese products, at
a maximum level of 150 mg kg
1; and in pickled sprat and
herring, at a maximum level of 500 mg kg
1.
Propionic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium salts
are used in baked products, such as breads, rolls, and fine
bakery wares with a water activity of more than 0.65, at levels
varying between 1000 and 3000 mg kg
1. They prevent mainly
bread ropiness caused by the action of Bacillus subtilis. These
additives are often used in combination with more effective
preservatives against mold, such as sorbic acid salts.
Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation 735
Sequestrants
The most important metal chelating agents used in foods are
calcium disodium salt of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
(EDTA) and citric acid. Both substances also find use as color
retention agents. Calcium disodium salt of EDTA is used in fats
for frying; fat spreads with a fat content of 41% or less; emul-
sified sauces; canned, frozen, or deep-frozen crustaceans;
canned fish; and heat-treated processed meat. Citric acid is
used in fats and oils to improve oxidative stability. Other
approved sequestrants are citric and tartaric acid salts; ortho-,
di-, tri-, and polyphosphoric acid salts; phosphoric acid; and
tartaric acid.
Stabilizers and Thickeners
These additives modify the physical properties of water. They
provide many functions to foods acting as binders, bodying
agents, bulking agents, colloid, emulsion or foam stabilizers,
fat substitutes, flavor fixatives, gelling agents, rheology modi-
fiers, suspension agents, and texturizers. Approved stabilizers
and thickeners include
• natural polysaccharides obtained from seaweed and plant
materials (agar, alginates, carrageenan, carob bean gum,
cellulose, guar gum, gum arabic, karaya gum, konjac gluco-
mannan, pectins, soybean hemicellulose, tara gum, and
tragacanth gum),
• chemically synthesized polysaccharide derivatives (cellu-
lose derivatives and chemically modified starches) or semi-
synthetic materials that are manufactured by microbial
fermentation (gellan gum and xanthan gum), and
• additives, such as beta-cyclodextrin; fatty acid esters; ortho-,
di-, tri-, and polyphosphoric acid salts;, polydextrose; and
sugar alcohols.
Citric acid salts, fatty acids, invertase, tartaric acid salts, and
triethyl citrate are also utilized as stabilizers in food emulsions.
Glycerol, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, pullulan, and
talc are also additives used as thickeners.
Most additives used as stabilizers and thickeners are added
in foods, excluding infant, baby, and young children foods, at
levels in accordance with GMP. Maximum use levels have been
established for gums, such as karaya gum, cassia gum, and
cross-linked cellulose gum; ortho-, di-, tri-, and polyphospho-
ric acid salts; propylene glycol alginate; and soybean hemicel-
lulose. These substances are added in concentrations that vary
between 0.01% and 4% by weight.
Sweeteners
These natural or synthetic substances, which are mainly used in
products with no added sugar or in energy-reduced edible prod-
ucts to imprint a sweet sensation, are classified into nutritive or
nonnutritive sweeteners. Sugar alcohols, such as erythritol, iso-
maltitol, lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, are
utilized as nutritive sweeteners. The most commonly used non-
nutritive sweeteners are artificial substances, mainly acesulfame
potassium, aspartame, aspartame–acesulfame salt, cyclamic acid
and cyclamic acid salts, saccharin and its salts (saccharins),
sucralose, neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, and neotame.
736 Food Additives: Classification, Uses and Regulation
Other nonnutritive sweeteners used in foods are also steviol
glycosides and thaumatin, substances that are isolated from
natural sources. Two or more nonnutritive sweeteners are often
used in combination for a synergistic intensification of sweetness
or for the elimination of their side or posttaste effects.
Sugar alcohols are used as sugar substitutes in food com-
modities suitable for diabetics because their metabolism is
insulin-independent. These substances, with the exception of
xylitol, are less sweet than sugar and have a low-calorie value
varying between 0.2 kcal g
1 (erythritol) and 3.0 mg kg
1
(maltitol). They are used for sweetening purposes, at levels in
accordance with GMP, in dietary foods, food supplements, and
sugar-free or low-calorie foods, such as candies and other
confections, cereal-based products and breakfast cereals, chew-
ing gum, chocolate and cocoa products, desserts, edible ices,
fine bakery wares, jams, jellies, marmalades, mustard, and
sauces.
Nonnutritive sweeteners are added in foods at low or very
low levels because they are 30–3000 times sweeter than sac-
charose. These substances have a taste profile that differs
slightly from that of saccharose. They are often used in combi-
nation with low-calorie bulking agents. Their use, at levels
varying between 5 and 6000 mg kg
1 or mg l
1, is permitted
in the same food products where sugar alcohols are used and
also in other sugar-free or low-calorie foods, such as alcoholic
and nonalcoholic beverages (alcohol-free beer, flavored
drinks, fruit and vegetable nectars, mixtures of alcoholic
drinks, and spirits with less than 15% alcohol, etc.); broths;
potato-, cereal-, flour-, or starch-based snacks; processed nuts;
salads; sandwich spreads; soups; several fruit and vegetable
products; and sweet–sour preserves and semipreserves of fish
or fishery products. Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone, neotame,
and thaumatin are used as flavor enhancers, at levels not
exceeding 5.0, 2.0, and 0.5 mg kg
1, respectively, in some
food commodities and food supplements.
Epilogue
The most important changes in legislation during the
last decade are the use of additives that are products of bio-
technology and the more detailed description of conditions for
use of authorized additives in the different categories and sub-
categories of foods. The tendency of food industry to produce a
variety of products with special sensory or technological prop-
erties resulted in the use of a greater number of different
additives than in the past. There is, however, a trend to limit
the level of a number of additives with a low ADI (e.g., nitrous
acid salts).
See also: Ascorbic Acid: Properties, Determination and Uses;
Emulsifiers: Types and Uses; Gums: Properties and Uses;
Preservatives: Food Use; Stabilizers: Types and Function.
Further Reading
Berdahl DR, Nahas RI, and Barren JP (2010) Synthetic and natural antioxidant additives
in food stabilization: current applications and future research. In: Decker EA,
Elias RJ, and McClements DJ (eds.) Oxidation in foods and beverages and
antioxidant applications. Understanding mechanisms of oxidation and antioxidant
activity, vol. 1, pp. 272–320. Cambridge: Woodhead Publ. Ltd.
Branen AL, Davidson PM, Salminen S, and Thorngate III JH III (eds.) (2001) Food
additives, 2nd ed. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Davidson PM, Sofos JN, and Branen AL (eds.) (2005) Antimicrobials in food, 3rd ed.
Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Imeson A (ed.) (2009) Food stabilisers, thickeners and gelling agents. Oxford: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Msagati TAM (2013) The chemistry of food additives and preservatives. Oxford: Wiley-
Blackwell.
O’ Brien Nabors L (ed.) (2012) Alternative sweeteners, 4th ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Smith J and Hong-Shum L (2011) Food additives data book, 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-
Blackwell.
Socaciu C (ed.) (2007) Food colorants: chemical and functional properties. Boca Raton:
CRC Press.
Theron MM and Rykers Lues JF (2010) Organic acids and food preservation. Boca
Raton: CRC Press.
Whitehurst RJ (ed.) (2004) Emulsifiers in food technology. Oxford: Blackwell.
Relevant Websites
www.codexalimentarius.net/gsfaonline/index.html – Codex general standard for food
additives (GSFA) online database.
www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/default.
htm – US FDA: Food additives and ingredients.
www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/additives.htm – European Food Safety Authority:
Food additives.